History of a Time to Come is the debut full-length album by the British thrash metal band Sabbat. Background In May 1986, Sabbat recorded a four-track demo tape entitled Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, recorded at a cost of £10 in a converted farmhouse near Ripley, Derbyshire. During the second half of 1986, guitarist Andy Sneap distributed the demo tape to magazines and several heavy metal record labels, including Berlin-based recording company Noise Records. After hearing it, Noise Records expressed interest in the band and asked to hear more material. The demo tape was also sent to Tommy Vance of BBC Radio 1's Friday Rock Show, to see if he would review it in his column for Metal Hammer magazine. Vance was so impressed he offered the band a recording session for his radio show. On 6 February 1987, the band recorded three songs live in the studio at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios, London, for the Friday Rock Show, which was broadcast on 27 February 1987. Prompted by Noise Records's request to hear more material, a copy of the BBC session was duly provided to the record company. Shortly afterwards, in March 1987, the German label offered the band a recording contract, which the band accepted, albeit the contract could not be signed until Sneap (the youngest member of the band) turned 18 years old in July 1987. Immediately plans were put in place to record the band's debut LP at Horus Sound Studio in Hannover, Germany, in September 1987. Before heading to Germany, the band was contacted by John Blanche, art director for White Dwarf magazine, who proposed that the band record a song for release as a free flexi disc to accompany the magazine. The band agreed, and the song "Blood for the Blood God" was recorded in August 1987 and released as intended with the magazine in November 1987. Writing and composition Speaking to Metal Forces magazine before the recording of the album, Sneap set out the band's plans for their debut LP, stating: Song contents "A Cautionary Tale" One of the band's oldest songs, "A Cautionary Tale" was recorded for the demo tape Fragments of a Faith Forgotten in May 1986 and was also recorded by the band for its BBC radio session in February 1987. The song is based on the classic German tale of the scholar Faust who makes a bargain with the